Snapshots In Multicolour
by Cookies-and-Ink
Summary: A series of moments following the life of Vanessa Rivers. Surviving Caylarium and Hogwarts is a little more difficult when you have voices in your mind. Especially when one's a six year old obsessed with doughnuts. A spinoff of 'Forever Defying The Ordinary by aimz666 Rating: T. OC


**A/N: This is a spin-off of aimz666's fic 'Forever Defying The Ordinary'. The Caylarium Institute and Mira Black are her creations - Vanessa is all mine :D Anything else you recognise (and I really don't think there will be anything but just in case...) belongs to the Queen herself Mrs JK. **

**Read and enjoy.**

**Lightning and Crushed Autumn Leaves.**

_'The thing about crazy people is that they don't know they're crazy.'_

I've heard it so many times paraphrased in different ways, said with a grin and a laugh mostly although in this house the laugh always shook and the grin... People rarely grin in the right way here.

I frowned at that thought, foot tapping to the beat.

Their eyes were always a little too white around the edges, narrowed at the corners as they recognised that they were the humans who had survived natural selection. The humans who were superior to the patients surrounding them since I suppose the fact that we were mentally unstable and could kill them with a laugh made us the bottom of the food chain.

_'Everything in this room is edible dear children, even me but that is called cannibalism and is frowned upon in most societies.'_

35...40...45...50...55...60...65

I wouldn't kill half of the people who came in here anyway; they just weren't worth the effort or the consequences. Most of them were visiting people to try and get rid of the horrific guilt complex which develops when you dump a child at an asylum. It wasn't called that of course, that would distress the adults. No, merely having the word 'institution' in the name made some stutter.

As Luke said, we were just children. Adults hated to admit that they were scared of 'just children' because adults always had to have things under control. Luke said a lot of stuff like that; he's got terrible authority issues really. We were talking over breakfast about one of the new staff members, Luke had called him "green as fuck" and judging by what happened with Malcolm yesterday I had to agree.

If there was one rule when it came to Malcolm you didn't say his name if he could hear you. Simple really but New Guy was trying to be down with the kids and approached him. When you think about it Malcolm successfully ramming a quill through his hand was understandable, you know?

I don't suppose you do.

Thinking about Malcolm made the beat change and I was in time.

160...165...170...

I let my mind drift, settling on what I was first thinking about kind of sort of. The other half of the people who came here I think I would like to kill. Maybe only 40% with a laugh but probably 83% with at least a smile to be polite. So maybe I wouldn't 'like' to kill the full 100% of the other 50%, a few I might have to be asked by someone maybe with the promise of food but I would do it. They always smelt wrong and didn't keep the beat. I hate it when people do that, don't you? May hates it too, probably because I do. She's gotten into a habit of copying me on purpose then giggling so I know it's on purpose. Six year olds are weird.

I would kill them though, I think. Luke definitely would, he has authority issues. They were always officials see, with motives that seemed to hover around them, all red and dark with their instruments clashing & out of tune. Politicians, journalists... psychiatrists always tasted sickly sweet and the healers that came with pills and injections which stained my skin in colours no one else could see had eyes that laughed hard and made May want to cry.

We didn't like it when May cried. You wouldn't either if you heard it but I don't think I would want you to. Six year olds may be weird but she was my weird six year old, not yours.

I stopped tapping my foot at 375, a really really good, very good number and tapped my pencil on the desk instead.

7...14...21...28...35...

It was a Thursday, a navy blue day but I was doing alright because I had found a new pencil. It had a used rubber and was sharp. It was also green with yellow smiley faces which was really really good because now I had 13 pencils and 5 were green or at least kind of sort of green. 13 and 5 were such good numbers. It being a navy blue day I had decided to do some of the extra school work I had been given. The teachers had seemed surprised I had asked for extra assignments. What they didn't understand was that I needed a reason to stay in my room otherwise some idiot like New Guy would try and get me involved in some sort of activity.

I had interesting conversations every day, I didn't need more socialising but that was never part of their agenda. Always a motive. The four of us agreed on that - May only agreed because we did but I didn't care, it gave us the majority vote.

Sighing since people always over complicated easy things like the word 'no', I closed my eyes to think.

What were the differences between a generic sleeping draught and the Poppy and Rose Elixir? We'd made P&R at the end of the year, some of us who went to extra Potions class. It was created 178 years ago by a woman named Imogen and was so called because poppy seeds and rosemary stems (not the needles, that was very important.) were the main components of the sleeping potion. They made a big difference but what was it besides the smell? So sweet but in a warm way, like a sunset.

"It had been something to do with dreams, right?"

Mulling over Sasha's suggestion I grinned, remembering now. She was right, P&R made you dream well, sweetly. It was commonly given to young children as a remedy if they weren't drifting off like they should. It wasn't advisable to give to anyone over 12 for a prolonged period of time as those maturing and those supposedly classed as mature found themselves often unwilling to accept what they saw was a dream with their real life being so much bleaker, resulting in addiction and overdose. Scary really but little kids dream constantly and live their lives surrounded by their imagination, sweet dreams were never a shock to the system.

Sasha sighed, probably thinking about our fucked up childhood and how once again we were amongst the anomalies to my theories. Few people under twenty in this building had ever grown up with easy dreams since dreams were so much harder to catch in the dark. I carefully worked on a plan for my essay, shading sections in a nice lime green and then started my introduction on nice white paper with blue lines. I always wrote my homework out three times, once, then a second draft was copied to be marked with changes and additions in burnt orange. The final draft was with glittery black ink and on parchment, blue for potions, black for astrology (the ink was white), green for Transfiguration... Each subject had their own colour, that was important. I copied that version too and saved it.

I wrote fast, blowing and rubbing my thumb on the pencil lead to sharpen it every 39 minutes when suddenly I was neatly phrasing my conclusion and signing my name at the bottom, numbering the pages. 7. Good. That's really really very good.

"What's the date?"

May repeated the question then giggled which made Luke and I scowl.

"The twenty second of July."

Marking that at the top I ran a finger down the stack of papers and they fizzed before sticking together bound like a book. Then it was stuck at the top of the pile to be edited and I decided I was hungry.

Sasha told me I needed a shower but I ignored her. She was prettier than me, blonde and tanned with hair that curled in waves. Maybe when I was sixteen I'd be pretty like her. Right now I was twelve and I was pale with dark circles making my blue eyes look a different shade than they were. She shook her head and told me I didn't need a shower to fix my eyes or pale skin since I always looked like that but my hair had gone greasy. May wrinkled her nose in disgust just like me.

Food was undeniably more important than my hair but so Sasha wouldn't moan I pulled my tie off it's labelled hook and wrapped it around my head, tying it so it hung down the left side of my face, silver & green clashing with dark red wonderfully. In the bathroom was my camo set of face paints next to the box of theatre make up and I dipped a finger in the black. Three stripes on the left cheek, three stripes on the right.

Perfect. Six was an even number made up of odd so it was alright, just being difficult. I could handle it. Plus this way no one would think of noticing how lank my hair was and if they did they wouldn't say anything. I looked too cool.

The others agreed me, May commenting happily how my velvet black dress was beautiful. I had been wearing it for nine days and fallen asleep in it four times.

It was my favourite.

Ready to wage war with the world outside my room, the only place where made things sense I squared my shoulders and checked I was wearing socks before slipping into the hallway. My door locked with a click behind me as I placed my hand on it, forefinger tapping three times quickly and then I was walking towards the kitchen. Thomas was sitting on the tenth step of the second staircase which was typical Thomas. We ignored each other since Luke had told him that wearing glasses frames with no lenses in was cool and Thomas had told Luke 'Thank you'. Nothing more had needed to be said so we had stayed quiet the past seventeen days.

May and Sash thought I should have banana on toast but I wanted porridge. It was 4:41 though so both options were out. Pulling at my lip with my teeth I tapped on the island countertop, grey granite clicking against my fingernail. The kitchen was big, I liked it but sometimes I didn't. There were eighteen cabinets. Not a good number.

Cereal but what cereal?

Three minutes and nineteen seconds later I was chewing mouthfuls of coco pops five times each before swallowing, a happy smile on my face. I knew today was going to be a navy blue day. Luke thought more indigo but I knew that was next Thursday, obviously.

Boys.

Three bowlfuls were filled and emptied; it took one hundred and nine spoons which meant 545 chews. Carefully washing my bowl and spoon for eleven seconds, drying them for another eleven and putting them exactly back where they were supposed to go I cast a critical eye for the kitchen, glad to see nothing was out of place.

"Well well aren't you the cutie."

Luke told the New Guy to fuck off but New Guy ignored him, smiling down at me. The air around New Guy tasted like bad gobstoppers. I didn't like him. Wrinkling my nose at him I tapped my foot on the floor.

5...10...15...20...25...30...35...

He cleared his throat, washed out blue eyes looking left and right.

"Whose tie is that?" he asked with a bad smile. "One of the boys?"

"No."

He was making it hard to keep the beat so I didn't stop tapping. I had to watch his face, both Sasha, Luke and I agreed that it wouldn't be safe to look away yet.

"Oh... Well did you know that's a Slytherin tie? It's one of the houses of Hogwarts."

He was stupid. Stupid people are stupid because they're stupid. Circular logic I know but it works for me, I didn't care about stupid people. Luke laughed at this.

"What's so funny doll?"

The beat crackled with white noise as Luke abruptly fell silent, his glare dark and Sasha was whispering viciously. May made a quiet noise, sounding scared.

Sometimes she cried when she was scared. We didn't like it when she cried.

"You're really fucking new" I said, angry now and his washed out blue eyes widened. I waited to see if I could spot the monster but he kept gaping. Stupid people are stupid so I left; muttering three vicious swear words as I passed.

Sasha was whispering louder now as Luke growled. They were angry like me but were they scared like me and May? Probably not, maybe yes. I wanted to go back to my room since it made sense and was safe but I wanted to break something more so I walked through the house to the French doors at the back.

Lightning forked across the sky amongst a sheet of rain and a vicious scowl carved itself into my face as I tapped my foot, waiting for it to stop so I could go outside and not ruin my dress or socks.

Fifty three minutes later it was still pouring.

Typical. Navy blue days are always so fickle but at least today wasn't indigo like next Thursday. That would have sucked.

"Wicked isn't it?"

Luke and Sash nodded in agreement. I settled for an elegant one shoulder shrug instead. Alan had his hands pressed against the glass, leaning forward as though he wanted to fall through.

"I can't remember the last time we had lightning. Do you think the ground screams when it's hit? Do you think you'd scream if you got struck by lightning?"

I tried to remember if I could remember but I couldn't. The weather wasn't important.

"Yes I think I'd scream." I said after pulling on my lip to seriously consider the question.

"And the ground?"

"If it does why can't we hear it?"

"Because of the frequency. Like how dogs can hear different sounds to us, trees and the grass and the ground make sounds we can't hear but just because we can't hear them doesn't make them not there."

This made sense and so I shrugged with one shoulder again, a hand reaching to play with my tie.

"Maybe then. I think I'm happy I can't hear it."

"I guess but still it'd be cool."

Alan's muscles tensed under his t-shirt as he pressed himself harder against the glass. I realised I was bored and dropped to the floor, folding my legs to the side. Stroking my skirt lightly seven times I pulled it so it was lying just right and sighed. Sasha was still angry at the New Guy and every time I thought about it she would start whispering again.

"Sasha wants to kill the New Guy because he called me doll. May nearly started crying."

Alan's face drew into a serious frown.

"Want me to do something to him? It wouldn't be hard, he's very new."

I liked Alan.

He had dimples and tasted like a nice winter sort of candle. The ones that smell moreish.

"Maybe. I have to be careful though."

Sasha and Luke fell silent at this reminder and May mumbled that she didn't like the rain. I did though and when I reminded her of this she was quick to tell me she didn't really mean the rain just the rain that was outdoors when you were inside.

Six year olds, they're so predictable aren't they.

I waited until another fifty five minutes had gone past, Alan telling me about the trip he had taken to Morocco with a friend from his school. He had been back for only eight days and hadn't stopped bragging. I didn't mind really because I wasn't listening to him, instead paying attention to Sasha who thought I should cut my hair. Luke said it was fine but maybe I should dye it. May wanted me to go electric blue.

Gripping the hand he held down for me I rose to my feet and shifted in my dress to make sure it sat right. I was still a bit jumpy and edgy and was bored so I started back down the corridor, unsure where I was going but knowing I needed to go somewhere new.

"Yo V?"

I twisted and looked over my shoulder at Alan.

"When you want me to get him, let me know. If you're away when I make it happen I'll send you my memory. Probably might do that anyway."

Alan was so considerate. When not if too. I always had liked him.

I bobbed my head in thanks and quietly told him that we really appreciated it. He grinned a good smile that was all teeth and longing and then turned back to the display outside, his face a mixture of bright lights and shadow. Beautiful.

I was in the west wing on the third floor when I heard a burst of laughter. It was bright and clean, made the air sparkle. Not many people here laughed like that and considering where I was in the house the possible suspects narrowed down drastically. May and I wanted to creep towards it like a spy but Sasha told me twelve year olds were supposed to act more grown up so I got up from where I'd crouched down, ready to crawl towards it. Sasha was so boring sometimes but then I didn't want them to stop laughing and me scaring them looking so cool might startle them.

Her door was swinging shut as I reached it, catching it on my hand and tapping five times quickly.

"Hey Ness"

Mira looked tired and Sasha thought she looked like she needed a shower. The girl's like a clean freak. She jumped onto her bed; legs crossed and invited me in. I hesitated and took a step in to be polite, leaning against the door. Blaise had dropped into the chair and I had to smile. This was her room, their room. Where they felt safe and it tasted like the nice cold you get from eating a mint and breathing in, so you feel fresh and alive.

"We're glad you're back" I said quietly for all of us. Mira had been in solitary after a fight with Joanna. I had missed Mira; she was brave and nice eyes. She and Blaise were like puzzle pieces that fit right, to see them made me happy.

"Thank you Ness" she said with a smile "Anything exciting happened whilst I was gone?"

"I told her about Malcolm" Blaise said with a grin. Blaise had been the one to tell me since yesterday it was a rouge day so I couldn't leave my room. He was a very good story teller.

"Alan thinks the ground screams when it's hit by lightning and the New Guy -" I hesitated, unsure what to say. "I've decided I don't like him."

"Yeah he's an arse, the idiot! I hate Joanna but he could have killed her never mind me! I mean honestly" Mira cried loudly, her arms in the air.

I shrugged at that since I couldn't talk; I'd tried to kill Joanna once. It hadn't worked out but as a plus she wouldn't stay for more than eight minutes in the same room as us unless forced.

"Why don't you like him Ness, anything in particular?" Blaise asked. I think time had passed as I thought since Mira was sitting differently on the bed and had a glass of water in her hand. His dark eyes caught mine and I bit my lip. I was here when Blaise Zabini came to live here, Mira Black appearing not very long after and the four of us had always liked them. They weren't like the others and they weren't like the adults. They understood us.

"He doesn't understand, he's fucking new." I said, eyes fixing on the window before darting back, meeting Blaise's gaze and then Mira's grey ones which were narrowed slightly. "and he called me doll so Sasha wants to kill him. Luke won't stop her and May is scared. Alan said he'd do it for me when I asked so it's okay, don't worry. I promise I won't go crazy."

I winked with a broad grin which made Mira laugh and Blaise roll his eyes. See? They understood us, unlike him. Them.

"I really am glad you're back Mira" I repeated, happy to see her with all her sort of messy black hair. "Excited?"

"For?" she asked uncertainly, looking at Blaise nervously.

"Hogwarts! It's only 879 hours and 36 minutes until you're on the train!" I said rapidly doing the calculations. "So are you excited?"

"Ness we haven't even been assessed! They might decide we can't go." I waved that aside.

"You're going to Hogwarts. You are. So are you excited?"

"I guess so." Mira said, a little uncomfortable.

"And even if we're not I know if we get there it will be exciting. The press are probably going to have a field day, us in the same year as Harry Potter, again if we get there."

I wrinkled my nose at the mention of the press and Luke muttered a few curses before giving me a suggestion. I hesitated and then sighed.

"Luke wants to know if you'd like a copy of my notes? They're organised by subject, coloured parchment and then topics within the subject."

May pouted. We didn't like sharing.

"Thank you Ness but it's okay."

"Yeah we'll have our textbooks soon if we pass, we can take notes from that. Still, thank you very much."

I ducked my head with a smile, my tie draping itself over my shoulder.

"Well I'm going to go and dance and I know you want to talk. I just heard you laughing, it sounded good."

"Don't worry about it Ness. You coming to dinner?"

I shook my head "I had five hundred and forty five chews of coco pops, I'm good. See you later and be careful of the New Guy. He doesn't feel right, we're all agreed on that."

Blaise nodded for the both of them and I was glad they took us seriously. They had to stay safe, protect themselves from monsters. I waved, fingers clenching up and down nine times quickly as a goodbye before I suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, Mira?" I said feeling a blush brush my cheeks "I ate your pieces of toast for you."

She looked at me in surprise then said than you quietly with a smile I returned, still blushing. The door closed quietly and I tapped it three times quickly before walking back towards my room.

I was on the tenth step when the beat came back and I closed my eyes to hum along with the swell of strings. Merlin I loved the cello. I swept along the corridors, my skirt wrapping around my legs as I twirled. I missed the music when it was gone. May was giggling like me which was good and Sasha smiled after I promised to have a shower.

_'The thing about crazy people is that they don't know they're crazy.'_

That's what so called sane people say to feel safe. They pretend they're top of the food chain and say thing's to convince themselves the world's okay but it isn't. The ground screams and the air tastes like eyes that laugh and bad gobstoppers. I didn't so much mind that though because I knew I'd be okay even when everything burned. I'd always have my music.

Sane people like to think crazy people like me and us do thing's unknowingly. We had 'screws loose' and blamed the voices and suddenly it's okay because a twelve year old girl isn't dangerous just sick. Silly sane people.

"Stupid people are stupid" May piped up and I nodded making Liam snort.

It's the twelve year old girls you have to worry about when you think about it because after all... What happens when the crazy person realises they're crazy and loves it because it tastes of fireworks and stains the air with the crunch of autumn leaves?

I laughed hard and twirled to the music. Life's beautiful sometimes, you know?

_'Everything in this room is edible dear children, even me but that is called cannibalism and is frowned upon in most societies.' _- This is a quote (possibly paraphrased, definitely from memory) from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

**A/N:** **As we speak I'm currently working on Chapter Two and very much enjoying it. That aside, Snapshots in Multicolour is a side - project right now, with Real Life and a series I'm working on taking precedent. There'll definitely be more of Ness since she's such a wonderful character to write but I cannot promise regular updates. **

**As I don't have a definite story plan and am instead writing moments that come to mind, if there's anything you'd like to see, Ness at Hogwarts for example or more interaction with Caylarium kids... Anything, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I'd be very grateful for feedback too. **

**Thank you for reading, **

**Abby x**


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